1The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite families. 2They said, ‘When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. 4When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our ancestors.’

5Then at the Lord’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: ‘What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. 6This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: they may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. 7No inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. 8Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. 9No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.’

10So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11Zelophehad’s daughters – Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah – married their cousins on their father’s side. 12They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s tribe and clan.

13These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

Footnotes for the Book of Numbers

a 9 Most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text; some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (see also 8:16) to me

b 28 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts 8,300

c 47 That is, about 58 grams

d 50 That is, about 16 kilograms

a 2 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated ‘leprosy’, was used for various diseases affecting the skin.

b 6 Or woman who commits any wrong common to mankind

c 15 That is, probably about 1.6 kilograms

d 21 That is, may he cause your name to be used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, may others see that you are cursed; similarly in verse 27.

e 26 Or representative

a 13 That is, about 1.5 kilograms; also elsewhere in this chapter

b 13 That is, about 800 grams; also elsewhere in this chapter

c 14 That is, about 115 grams; also elsewhere in this chapter

d 16 Or purification offering; also elsewhere in this chapter

e 85 That is, about 28 kilograms

f 86 That is, about 1.4 kilograms

a 3Taberah means burning.

b 31 That is, about 90 centimetres

c 32 That is, possibly about 1.6 metric tons

d 34Kibroth Hattaavah means graves of craving.

a 23Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.

a 4 That is, probably about 1.6 kilograms

b 4 That is, about 1 litre; also in verse 5

c 6 That is, probably about 3.2 kilograms

d 6 That is, about 1.3 litres; also in verse 7

e 9 That is, probably about 5 kilograms

f 9 That is, about 1.9 litres; also in verse 10

g 24 Or purification offering; also in verses 25 and 27

a In Hebrew texts 17:1-13 is numbered 17:16-28.

a 13Meribah means quarrelling.

a 32 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.

a 4 Hebrew Shaddai; also in verse 16

b 17 Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Jer. 48:45); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.

c 17 Or possibly Moab, / batter

d 17 Or all the noisy boasters

e 23 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew The people from the islands will gather from the north.

a 18 Or the Spirit

a 3 That is, probably about 5 kilograms; also in verses 9 and 14

b 3 That is, probably about 3.2 kilograms; also in verses 9 and 14

c 4 That is, probably about 1.6 kilograms; also in verses 10 and 15

d 5 Or purification offering; also elsewhere in this chapter

e 7 Or must fast

f 40 In Hebrew texts this verse (29:40) is numbered 30:1.

a 52 That is, about 190 kilograms

a 8 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch and Vulgate; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text left from before Hahiroth